Most Turks oppose military intervention in Syria: Poll

A recent opinion poll in Turkey shows more than half of the respondents have expressed their opposition to Ankara's potential military intervention in Syria.
According to the results of an opinion poll published by the Turkish Center for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies on June 21, 57 percent of the 1,500 respondents said they were against a Turkish military intervention in Syria.
The results also indicated that 12 percent of the participants supported the military action in Syria.
About 16 percent believed Ankara should follow its current policy toward Damascus, while 15 percent of those polled had no idea about the issue of military intervention.
The Turkish pollster conducted the survey within the period of May 5 to June 5.
The results were published one day before Syria said on June 22 its air defense forces shot down a Turkish F-4 Phantom in its airspace “according to the laws that govern such situations.” The aircraft crashed into the Mediterranean Sea.
Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said in a press conference in Damascus on June 25 that the Turkish warplane “violated Syrian airspace, and in turn Syrian air defenses fired back and the plane crashed inside Syrian territorial waters.”
However, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an address to the parliament on June 26 that Ankara would retaliate “with determination” and take the “necessary steps by determining the time, place and method by itself.”
Erdogan made the remarks on the same day when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Syria was in a “real situation of war.”
“When one is in a state of war, all our policies and capabilities must be used to secure victory,” Assad stated.
HSN/GHN